Social Sales Requires Marketing Skills and … Salespeople

I have been thinking a great deal as of late as to why so many of my B2B contemporaries have been loathe to adopt social selling. Most don’t want to talk about, let alone even consider, it! Whether or not you or your company will succeed with implementing a social sales initiative, it starts at the top (C-level), rolls down through the middle (managers), and ends up with your …

The missing element?

Salespeople. More specifically … hungry salespeople. People who prospect like crazy and who aren’t afraid to dig in the dirt to get where they need to be. Coincidentally, this is what we often find missing from traditional sales teams. Funny how that works.[Tweet “Today’s salesperson also has to be a marketer!”]

When I was a sales manager, I was always focused on finding salespeople who could, and would, make the calls. My theory and I think it to be sound, was that if you could at least make the contacts, we could teach/help you to become proficient at the rest. However, if you won’t make the calls, we have nothing to work with since I can’t/won’t make them for you.

This all comes back to the success triangle. A great salesperson will have all three attributes while a mediocre model may get by with only two.

This success triangle comes with a warning. While we can teach knowledge and skills, attitude is something that comes pre-installed at the factory and is not subject to modification. It is attitude that drives and controls prospecting instincts. It is attitude that will direct whether or not an individual is open to new ideas like … social selling.

If our salespeople are not performing as needed for traditional selling, there are, of course, many possible reasons for this. We may have people who are (but, certainly not limited to) …

Lazy or undisciplined

Confused about their duties and your expectations

Ill suited for the position

Overwhelmed by their other responsibilities

Poorly trained

Too busy (or stubborn) to entertain new ideas and/or direction

Suffering under weak leadership

The birth of the “salesketer”

I am not by nature, education, or experience a marketer. I am a salesperson. Now, to my great dismay, social selling requires a new set of skills, and that includes assuming many of those duties that have been traditionally relegated to marketing.

Read on at Maximize Social Business …

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Craig M. Jamieson

Managing Member at Adaptive Business Services

Craig M. Jamieson is a lifelong B2B salesperson, manager, owner, and a networking enthusiast. Adaptive Business Services provides solutions related to the sales professional. We are a Nimble CRM Solution Partner. Craig also conducts training and workshops primarily in social selling and communication skills. Craig is also the author of "The Small Business' Guide to Social CRM", now available on Amazon!